Article assembling apparatus



Jan. 18, 1949. F. KONICEK ETAL ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15, 1943 ZMHM N mwwi m W5 m 5/,.

F. KON ICEK EI'AL ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Jan. 18', 1949.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1943 m/vz/vro/es F KON/CEK HJ VEA/NES OQ 7 /%v//% Q mm N am aw \n mu m Rh W. m

Jan. 18, 1949. F. KONICE K Em. 2,459,228

ARTICLE ASS EMBLING APPARATUS Filed Spt. 15, 1943 s She'ets-Sheet sINVENTOAS EKoMcEK HJ VE/VNES Patented. Jan. 18, 1949 I I UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 2,459,228 ARTICLEASSEMBLING APPARATUS Frank Konicek,Baltimore, and Harald J. Vennes, Towson, Md., assignors to WesternElectric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation 01. NewYork Application September 15, 1943, Serial No. 502,410

6 Claims. (01. 115 1s3) l 2 This invention relates to an articleassembling Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a apparatus andmore particularly to apparatus portion of the article assembled in theapparafor simultaneously adjusting and assembling retus; sistanceelements. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a portion of the article It is anobject of the present invention to proassembled in the apparatus withsome of the vide a simple mechanism for quickly assembling clamps inplace, and an article in a manner such that the article will Fig. 10 isa fragmentary sectional view taken have a desired characteristic.substantially along the line ill-4!! of Fig. 9 in In accordance with oneembodiment of the the direction of the arrows. invention, apotentiometer card, that is, a strip 10 In the drawings, there is showna base mem cf insulation having a resistance element wound her 15, whichmay be of any suitable constructhereon, is assembled on a circularsupporting tlon, provided with a top plate i6, in which there member andtested during the assembling of the is fixed a stud shaft H. The studshaft I1 excard on the supporting mechanism. A supporttends upwardlyabove the top of the plate l8 and ing member, to which a potentiometercard is toserves to properly position a disc ill for rotation beattached, is placed on a rotatable disc or table with respect to theplate H5. The disc 18 is proand centered thereon so that the disc andsup vided with a plurality of rollers 15, freely rotatporting memberwill be rotatable about the same able with respect thereto and servingto support axis when the disc is rotated. Means are prothe disc 18 inspaced relation to the plate 16. A vided for stopping the disc in apredetermined 20 plurality of locating apertures 20 are equally numberof positions and a measuring circuit, inspaced about the disc 8 forreceiving a locating eluding a resistance ratio box, is provided withpin 2|, which serves to locate the disc 18 in any contacting meansadapted to engage the resistone of sixteen positions of rotation. Thepin 2| ance element at predetermined points about its is formed on theupper end of a manually operperiphery after the element has been mounted35 able plunger 22, which is normally urged upupcn the supportingmember, whereby the rewardly with respect to the plate 56 by acomsistance element may be adjusted to have the pression spring 23surrounding the shank of the desired resistance ratios at the saidpredeterplunger 22 and nested between a collar 24 formed mined points.on the plunger 22 and a shoulder 25 formed in A clear understanding ofthe invention may be a bearing 26 in which the plunger 22 is slidable.had by reference to the following detailed de- Formed centrally on thedisc 48 is a hub por scription of one embodiment thereof when c ontion35, which encircles the stud shaft l1 and on sidered in conjunction withthe accompanying which there is formed a relatively coarse threaddrawings showing said embodiment, wherein 36 adapted to threadedlyengage a collar 31 pro- Fig. l is a plan view of the apparatus showing35 vided with actuating pins 38, whereby the collar a supporting memberand resistance element may be rotated on the hub portion 35.Surpositioned on the disc; rounding the hub portion 35 is an annular camFig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken submember 3Q, which engagesthe inner ends of the stantially along the line 22 of Fig. l in theseries of locating pins equally spaced about direction of the arrows; 40the annular cam member 39. The locating pins Fig. 3 is a circuit diagramof the connections to 40 are slidably mounted in a ring 4| suitablyatthe testing circuit; tached to the upper surface of the disc l8 andFig. 4 is an enlarged irregular vertical sectional concentric with thehub 35. Each of the pins 40 view taken substantially along the line 44of is urged toward the axis of the hub 35 by con- Fig. 1 in thedirection of the arrows; tractile springs 42 individual thereto and willFig. 5 is a detail view of a resistance element thus be urged to engagea sloping cam surface 43 to be assembled on its supporting member in theon the cam member 39. It is believed to be apapparatus, part of theelement being broken away parent from the foregoing that the pins 40will to conserve space; be forced radially outwardly with respect to theFig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view hub 35 by rotating thecollar 37 in a direction to of a portion of a clamping means mounted onmove it downwardly toward the upper surface of the supporting means; thedisc I8 and that the springs 42 will normally Fig. 7 is a transversevertical sectional view urge the pins 40 radially inwardly to cause themtaken substantially along the line 1-1 of Fig. 6 to follow the slopingcam face 43 of cam member' in the direction of the arrows; 39 when thecollar 31 .is rotated in a direction to move it upwardly on the hub 35.A series of springs 44 seated in pockets 45 formed inwardly from thelower surface of the cam member 39 bear against the upper surface of thedisc l8 and normally urge the cam member 39 upwardly against the collar31. v

The article to be assembled and adjusted during its assembly in theapparatus comprising the present invention as shown most clearly inFigs. 8 and 9 comprises an annular base member 50 of L-shaped crosssection, on whicha potentiometer card having a winding of resistancewire 52 wound thereon is to be positioned. The potentiometer card 5|with the resistance wire 52 wound thereon is interposed between twostrips 53 and 54 of insulating material and is clamped on the uprightflange of the base member 50 by spacers 55, which are, in turn, held inplace by a predetermined number of equally spaced set screws 56 threadedinto a ring 51 extending around the outer surface of the upright flangeof the base member 50. are provided on the ring '51 at points inregistry with the locating apertures 20-20 provided in the disc M. Inassembling this potentiometer unit, the base member 50 is firstpositioned on the disc l8 and then positioned co-axially of the axis ofrotation of the disc by manipulating the collar 31 to force the pins 40outwardly to properly align the base member 50. Thereafter, the clamps58 may be clamped onto the horizontal flange of the base member 50, asseen in Fig. 2, to hold the base member tightly in the position shown,where it will be concentric with the hub 35.

After the base member 50 has thus been properly located on the disc l8,the potentiometer card 5|, with the winding of resistance wire 52thereon, is clamped on the base member 50 by means of a series ofclamps, designated generally by the numeral 55, to be described more indetail hereinafter, and the ends of the resistance wire may be connectedto spring connectors 55 and 61. The clamps 5555 are positioned aroundthe annular base 50 at equally spaced points in registry with thelocating apertures 20-20 provided in the disc l8 and, consequently, arein registry with the set screws 5555 carried by the ring 51. The springconnectors 65 and 51 are mounted upon a block of insulation 58 (Fig. 2)and are electrically interconnected by means of leads 69 and to aresistance measuring device 'Il (Fig. 3). The block of insulation 58 ismounted upon the upper surface of the disc l8 and the leads 59 and 10are mounted upon and suitably insulated from a spiral spring 12, havingone end fixed to the undersurface of the disc l8 by means The set screws55--55 Themeasuring devic II includes a galvanometer 80, having one leadBl therefrom connectible to taps82 of a resistance box, and having theother end connected, as will be described hereinafter, to a contactmember 83 adapted to engage the windings of resistance wire 52 wound ona potentiometer card 5|. The leads 69 and F0 are connected to the endtaps of the resistance box and a source of potential 84 is connectedacross all of the resistances in the resistance box. This arrangementconstitutes a Wheatstone bridge whereby the resistance ratio ofresistance Wire 52 at the point where it is contacted by the contactmember 03 is measured with a high degree of accuracy.

The contact member 03, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, is electricallyconnected to a horizontally disposed arm 85, which is, in turn,connected, through a lead 55, to the galvanometer 80. The contact member83 is provided with a shoulder Bl and is normally urged downwardly by acompression spring 95, being slidably mounted in a bearing aperture 88.A guard member 01 has a spring guiding post 98 fixed in it for holdingthe spring 95 against the contact member 85, thereby to urge the collar87 into engagement with a pivoted lever 89, in which the aperture 88 isformed. The arm 85 is disposed between a pair of guide pins 99-99, whichare mounted in the lever 89 and serve to prevent rotation of the contactmember 83 when the contact member moves in its bearing aperture. Thepivoted lever 89 is mounted on a pivot pin 95, which is set into abracket I00 suitably attached to the top plate -|5 of the base memberl5, and is in horizontal alignment with the normal position of the pointof the contact member 83, thereby to permit free vertical movement ofthe contact member with respect to the pivoted lever 89 and at the sametime to permit the assembly of the contact member and pivoted lever tomove about pin 95 without moving laterally with respect to theresistance card.

The contact member 03 is adapted to engage the winding of resistancewire 52 at predetermined points around the periphery of thepotentiometer card 5|, and since it is essential that the of a pin I3,and having the other end fixed to the top plate |5 of the base member l5by means of a pin I4. The two leads 69 and 10 pass through suitableapertures 15 and I5 in the' disc l8 and then are attached to the spiralspring I2 in any suitable manner and then extend down through anaperture 11' in the top plate i5, in the base I5, and thence to themeasuring device I The provision of the spiral spring 12 between thedisc l8 and the base 15 makes the disc l5 rotatable in acounterclockwise direction for one complete revolution against theaction of the spring, as indicated by the arrow thereon, and provides afixed starting position for the disc l0, as shown in Fig. 1. Inaddition, the spring 12 serves to urge the disc to its fixed startingposition whenever the locatingpin 2| is withdrawn from one of thelocating apertures 20 provided in the disc..

resistance ratios of the resistance wire at the points of contact beheld within very close limits, the potentiometer card 5| is clamped tothe upright flange of the base member 50 at these points by means of setscrews 55 and adjustments may be made between these points by includinga few more turns or a few less turns of resistance wire between thesepoints. Since the set screws 55 are to clamp the spacer 55 against thebase member 50 at these points, the clamp 65 is cut away to permit thepassage through it of the set screws 55. The clamp 55 comprises, asshown most clearly in Figs. 6, 7 and 9, a thumb screw receiving leg MI,in which a thumb screw I02 may be threaded. The leg |0| extendsvertically and is formed integrally with horizontal portions W3 and I04adapted to extend over the top of the resistance card 5| and toterminate in vertically disposed legs I05 and I05, respectively. Thehorizontal portions I03 and |04 are rounded on their adjacent surfacesto permit the passage through the clamp of the contact member 8 3 andthey have bent leaf springs I01 and |08, respectively, attached to themfor supporting the spacer 55 during the assembling operation and untilit is clamped in place by the set screws 55. The lower surfaces of thehorizontal portions I03 and I04 of the clamp 65 rest on the uppersurface of the 3 ance and Base member II, as shown at I I. (Fig. 7) andcutouts III are formed in these horizontally extending portions toprevent contact of the metallic clamp element with the resistance wireI2.

In the operation of the apparatus, the annular base 50 is positioned onthe disc l8, coaxially aligned with the axis of rotation thereof byoperation of the cam 39 and pins "-40 and clamped in this position byclamps 58-58. The potentiometer card 5|, having windings of resistancewire II on it, is clamped lightly against the upright flange of the basemember 50 so that the first turn of the winding 52 engages the contactfinger ll of the arm 89 by means of the clamps 65. The beginning and endturns of the winding 52 are connected to the clips 61 and SI,respectively, which are electrically connected by leads 69 and II to theresistance measuring device I I, described in detail hereinbefore. Afterthis connection has been made, the disc 18 may be rotated to the placewhere the locating pin 2| will enter the first locating aperture 20clockwise from the adjacent ends of the resistance wires, the disc i3being rotated counterclockwise in making the test. With the disc I8 inthis position, the pivoted lever 89 may be lowered to bring the contactmember 83 into the rounded-out adjacent portions of the horizontalportion of the clamp 65 and thematic of resistance between the end ofthe resistance wire 52 and the point of contact and the entireresistance may be read on the galvanometer. If this resistance is lessthan the desired amount, the clamp 65 may be loosened slightly and awedge H may be forced between the potentiometer card i and the strip ofinsulation 53 to thereby draw one or, more additional turns ofresistance wire into position between the point of contact 01 thecontact member and the end of the wire, thus to correct any slightdiiference between the desired amount of resistthat actually included inthis portion of the potentiometer card. The just-described operation maybe repeated at each of the locating apertures 20 on the disc 18 andafter the proper adjustments have been made in the length of resistancewire including between the various clamps, the ring 51 may be placed inposition surrounding the base member 50 and the set screws 56 may beclamped against the clamp elements or spacers all the way around thebase member 50, whereupon the clamps 65 may be removed from the basemember 50 and the base member '50 may be released from the clamps 58 andlocating pins 40 and a new base member 50 placed in position toassembleanother potentiometer unit.

What is claimed is:

1. An article assembling apparatus comprising rotatable means forsupporting an annular element of the article for rotation, meansprovided on the rotatable means for aligning the annular elementcoaxially with the axis of rotation of thesupporting means including anannular cam, a plurality of locating pins actuated by said cam forengaging the inner surface of the annular element and spacing itequi-distant from the center of the supporting means at all points ofcontact, removable clamping means for attaching a resistance elementaround the annular element at a plurality of equally spaced points,means for positioning the rotatable supporting means in predeterminedrotative positions in registry with the clamped points of the resistanceelement, and pivotally mounted contacting means engageable with theresistance element at each clamped point thereof when the rotatablemeans is in one of its rotative tions.

2. An article assembling apparatus comprising rotatable means. forsupporting an annular element of an article to be assembled, removableclamping means for attaching a resistance element around the annularelement at a plurality of equally spaced points,'means for positioningthe rotatable supporting means in predetermined rotative positions inregistry with the clamped point of the resistance element, a. pivotallymounted contractor engageable with the resistance element at eachclamped point thereof when the rotatable means is in one of its rotativepositions, said clamping means comprising a plurality of individualclamps each having a single leg in which a thumbscrew is threaded toengage the annular element and a pair of opposed legs for holding aspacer element of the article against the resistance element, and springfingers on the clamps for holding the spacer element adjacent to theopposed legs during the assembling operation of the resistance elementon the annular element.

3. In an article assembling apparatus including a resistance ratiomeasuring circuit, the improvement which comprises a base, a rotatabledisc mounted on the base, means for securing the disc in any one of agiven number of equally spaced positions with respect to said base,means carried by the disc for centering and securing thereon an annularsupport on which an insulated potentiometer card is to be positioned,means for clamping the potentiometer card around the support at. pointsin registry with the rotative positions of the discs, means forconnecting the ends of a potentiometer card positioned upon the annularsupport to the resistance ratio measuring circuit, an arm pivotallymounted upon the base and carrying a contact member for engaging theedge of the potentiometer card at each of the clamped points thereof,and means for conmeeting the contact member in the resistance ratiomeasuring circuit.

4. In an article assembling apparatusincluding a resistance ratiomeasuring circuit, the improvement which comprises rotatable means forsupporting an annular eiement of an article to be assembled, means forcentering the annular element on the rotatable supporting means,removable clamping means for attaching a resistance element around theannular element at a plurality of equally spaced points, means forpositioning the rotatable supporting means in predetermined rotativepositions in registry with the clamped points of the resistance element,pivotally mounted contacting means engageable with the resistanceelement at each clamped point thereof when the rotatable means ispositioned in one of its rotative-positions, and. means for connectingthe resistance element and the contacting means in the resistance ratiomeasuring circuit.

5. In a fixture for assembling potentiometer cards on annular supportsincluding a resistance ratio measuring circuit, the improvement whichcomprises a base, a disc rotatably mounted on the base and having afixed starting point, means for securing the disc in any one of a givennumber of equally spaced rotative positions with respect to its startingposition, means carried by the disc for centering and securing thereonan annular support on which a potentiometer card may be positioned,means for clamping the potentiometer card around the annular support atpoints in registry with the rotative positions of the disc,

means for connecting the ends of a potentiometer card positioned uponthe annular support to the resistance ratio measuring circuit, an armpivotally mounted upon the base and carrying a contact finger forengaging the edge of the potentiometer card at each clamped pointthereof when the disc is in one of its rotative positions, a spring forsupporting said contact member and operable to urge the contact memberto engage the potentiometer card, and means for connecting the contact'member in the resistance ratio measuring circuit.

6. An apparatus for assembling a composite resistance unit including anannular support, a resistance element and a ring for clamping theresistance element to the support, which comprises a base, a rotatabledisc mounted on the base, means for selectively securing the disc in anyone of a given number of equally spaced rotative positions with respectto the base, means carried by the disc for centering and securing anannular support of the article thereon, and temporary clamping means forclamping the resistance element around the annular support atCertificate of @orreetien Patent No. 2,459,228.

FRANK KONICEK ET AL.

' 8 ir points in registry with the rotative positions of the disc sothat the resistance element, may be permanently secured tothe annular,support by the clamping ring after which the temporary clamping meansmay be removed from-the annular support.

- FRANK KONICEK.

HARALD J. VENNES.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1 Name Date 1,404,793Priess Jan. 31, 1922 1,760,538 Becker May 27, 1930 1,870,462 McWeenyAug. 9, 1932 1,976,514 Pugh, Jr Oct. 9,1934 2,055,175 Franz 1 -QSept.22, 1936 2,172,034 Raschdowitz Sept. 5, 1939 2,319,413 Leathers et al.May 18, 1943 2,408,946 Coyne et al. 'Sept. 24, 1949 2,419,952 Konicek etal.". May 6, 1947 danueryle, 1949.

It is hereby certified that error appears in theprinted specification ofthe above; numbered patent requiring correction as follows;

Column 6, line 12, claim 2, for the word contractor read contractor;

and that the said Letters Patent should be rea same may conform to therecord of the case in Signed and sealed this 20th d with this correctiontherein that v the Patent day of 'septemb'er, A. D. 1949.-

they I Jon E. omens, I Assistant of JP.

